Archive for the ‘National Export Initiative’ Category

Marcus Jadotte is the International Trade Administration’s Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry & Analysis.

Last year, the United States exported $2.34 trillion worth of goods and services—an all-time record. Exports from the United States in 2014 equaled the entire gross domestic product of Brazil and exceeded all commercial output in India, Italy, or Mexico. What is more, exports are an increasingly important aspect of the U.S. economy. As the significance of exporting grows, the Obama administration and the Department of Commerce is committed to providing the data and analytics U.S. companies need to compete effectively in foreign markets.

To meet this objective, the International Trade Administration (ITA) is leading the NEI Next Initiative, a customer service-driven strategy that is delivering improved information to American businesses to help them win when competing abroad. Of course, winning in foreign markets is often a case of investing resources as strategically as possible – i.e., picking which market to introduce a new product; or choosing whether to expand in one market or focus on opportunities elsewhere. That is why we are proud to release a new product line today: ITA’s Top Markets Series.

The Top Markets Series is a collection of 19 sector-specific reports that are designed to help U.S. exporters compare markets across borders, using market intelligence and data to inform decision-making. From aircraft parts to civil nuclear energy, green buildings and cloud computing, to media and entertainment, each Top Markets Report includes commentary on opportunities, trends, and challenges facing U.S. exporters in the largest potential markets. The reports combine the unique expertise of ITA’s sector leads in Industry & Analysis with economic data and the views of our staff stationed around the world. Exporters can access full reports or view individual sections; collectively, the series includes more than 200 pieces of individually-viewable market intelligence.

In addition to U.S. businesses, Top Markets Reports are a tool that federal agencies are using to prioritize export promotion activities and trade policy initiatives. Our efforts will make all of us more efficient, as we target limited resources at those markets and sectors most likely to benefit from U.S. government support. For example, within ITA, we are working to coordinate our trade missions, trade fairs, and International Buyers Program recruitment with the strategic opportunities identified in the Top Markets series.

We anticipate updating ITA’s Top Markets rankings on an ongoing basis and will release new reports annually. Over the next several months, we look forward to hearing feedback from exporters and will incorporate suggestions into next year’s versions of the Top Markets Reports.

Ashley Zuelke is the International Trade Administration’s senior advisor for Export Policy, Promotion and Strategy.

(Left to right) Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Stefan Selig, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, and Devin Wenig, Chief Executive Officer of eBay at a “Listen and Learn” session.

Recently, incoming eBay CEO Devin Wenig, eBay executives, and Department of Commerce leadership including Secretary Penny Pritzker and Under Secretary Stefan Selig hosted a first-of-its-kind “Listen and Learn” session with small businesses who are successfully making international sales online through eBay Marketplace.

For policymakers, the session brought to life the experiences of technology-enabled exporters, and for participating businesses, it provided valuable insight into the scope of available U.S. government export resources and how to effectively use them.

In many ways, the listen and learn session focused on access – both to global customers and to export assistance.

Advances in technology have given U.S. small businesses unprecedented opportunity to have an online storefront facing the 96 percent of consumers outside the United States. Platforms like eBay, with seller and customer rating systems and payment facilitation tools, are helping small businesses overcome common challenges for exporters: meeting foreign buyers, building trust, and ensuring payment.

While available federal government data shows that less than five percent of U.S. goods-producing companies export, eBay research on its sellers demonstrates that more than 90 percent of U.S. companies on the platform are selling to international customers. eBay sellers at the roundtable each shared the percentage of their sales that go to international customers, which ranged from 5 to 45 percent.

Sellers detailed what factors into their decision to sell internationally. Providing excellent customer service is paramount, so steps in the export process that are unclear or uncertain provide the biggest roadblocks: pricing for the full cost of a shipment, ensuring shipments reach the customer and clears overseas customs agencies, and ensuring the necessary paperwork is complete.

Many of the company challenges discussed are what prompted the President’s Export Council to make a recommendation to President Obama on how agencies can better serve technology-enabled exporters, leading to a key focus on responding to customer needs and modernizing U.S. export assistance in our national efforts to promote trade, the National Export Initiative/NEXT, launched in May 2014.

The Small Business Administration has representatives in 20 of the domestic offices listed above, and both and the U.S. Export-Import Bank have financing and insurance products that can be right-sized for micro multinationals to expand production facilities, translate product literature, and insure against commercial and political risks.

Participate in Discover Global Markets: E-Commerce Strategies for Exporters in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX October 8-9, 2015. This event, organized by the U.S. Commercial Service, will bring together industry leaders and U.S. commercial diplomats from over 20 countries to present e-commerce strategies to U.S exporters.

For more information on international solutions and logistics, visit export.gov.

Ashley Zuelke is the Senior Advisor for Export Policy, Promotion and Strategy at the International Trade Administration.

Julia McNerney is the Special Assistant to the Under Secretary at the International Trade Administration.

Last week, the International Trade Administration (ITA) held the first event in the Startup Global Pilot program at 1776, a local business incubator in Washington, D.C. Startup Global, which Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker launched in February, was designed to help more startup firms think global from the earliest stages of a company’s growth. One of four in a series of pilot program educational events, the 1776 event welcomed 25 startups and experienced startup exporters. The participants all agreed that the theme of Thursday’s event is clear: start planning for international success on day one. The theme is important because:

The world wants U.S. goods and services.

Advances in technology and communications, as well as new assurances of e-commerce platforms that build trust between buyer and seller, mean that it is easier than ever for the 95 percent of consumers outside the United States to purchase from U.S. companies.

Many technology-enabled businesses are in a reactive position when international sales opportunities or challenges arise, and don’t know where to start or who to go to for help.

At the cutting edge of commercial innovation, startups are the next generation of U.S. exporters. As a result, ITA is piloting Startup Global, an outreach and partnership development program launched under NEI/NEXT, the successor to the President’s National Export Initiative (NEI). The NEI/NEXT strategy coordinates federal programs and policies to help more U.S. companies begin exporting and expand to new markets by making it easier to get involved.

Startup Global is designed to provide focused assistance and information to early-stage companies by building partnerships with the United States’ unparalleled incubators and accelerators, which are key centers of gravity and trusted advisers in the startup ecosystem. Startup Global will produce half day educational seminars in partnership with local incubators and accelerators to cover the most-pressing issues startups face in the global business environment. At last week’s event at 1776, those topics included the path to going global, the availability of key federal and local government resources, and best practices in intellectual property protection and licensing.

Another theme realized at Thursday’s Startup Global pilot: assistance is available. Participants were enthusiastic to learn about federal government resources in their own backyard. They include:

In addition, courtesy of the Global Innovation Forum at the National Foreign Trade Council, participants heard about other available resources from leading private sector experts about doing business internationally.

In the upcoming months, the Department of Commerce will host pilot seminars in Arlington, Texas; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Nashville, Tennessee. These events will not only provide direct assistance and access to expertise, but also measure demand to inform the creation of a national initiative.

The pilot event at 1776 set a high bar and registered tremendous demand. ITA looks forward to additional insightful feedback from future seminars, and to supporting the next generation of globally fluent U.S. businesses.

Since the launch of the Administration’s National Export Initiative (NEI) in 2010, U.S. businesses are selling more goods and services abroad than ever before, reaching an all-time record in 2013 of $2.3 trillion in exports.

As we transition to the next phase of supporting U.S. exporters through NEI/Next, ITA is expanding export-promotion efforts and trade advocacy. Our success depends on collaboration with public and private organizations at the national, state, and local levels that want to do the same.

More than 1,400 participants representing the SBDC network gathered for training sessions, workshops, discussions, and exhibits.

Supported by a collaboration of Small Business Administration federal funds, state and local governments, and private sector resources, SBDCs provide an array of technical assistance to small businesses and entrepreneurs. A hallmark of SBDC assistance is no-cost, extensive, one-on-one, long-term professional business advising.

In Grapevine, hundreds of SBDC export counselors took part in 15 international trade sessions ranging from export basics to protecting intellectual property in China. The annual conference is helping to build an army of enthusiastic SBDC export counselors across the United States, arming them with the knowledge and skills necessary to guide businesses forward.

And we at ITA are proud to have such a capable network of business experts as partners in supporting U.S. exporters! Together, SBDCs and ITA’s network of Export Assistance Centers will help support America’s business innovators bring quality U.S.-made products to more markets around the world.

U.S. exports reached a record $2.3 trillion in 2013 and support a record 11.3 million U.S. jobs. Thousands of companies across the country made exporting a strategy to growing their business and in fact, exports have driven the economic recovery and job creation in a number of U.S. cities. Because of the critical role of exports, the Department of Commerce recently launched the next phase of the National Export Initiative, NEI/NEXT. Building on the success of the National Export Initiative, NEI/NEXT is a new customer service-driven strategy with improved information resources that will help American businesses capitalize on existing and new opportunities to sell Made-in-America goods and services abroad.

As part of this effort, U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker visited the Qualcomm headquarters in San Diego, Calif. yesterday, where she led a roundtable discussion on the importance of U.S. exports with the “Global San Diego Export Plan” team. This plan, which aims to integrate exports into San Diego’s economic development strategy, is being developed in close consultation with the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration (ITA) and the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program.

During the roundtable discussion, Secretary Pritzker met with local private and public sector leaders and learned more about the success of their export strategy and the challenges they still face. The partnership-driven export and investment strategy has made a big impact on the San Diego economy, but there are still more areas and opportunities for growth. One of the key objectives of NEI/NEXT is to promote exports as an economic development priority for communities across the country. San Diego’s export plan is an excellent example for how other cities and metropolitan areas across the country can partner with businesses and government to better facilitate exports.

Roundtable participants also spoke about the practical challenges they are facing including the role of small and medium sized businesses, infrastructure, retaining talent and branding. Secretary Pritzker discussed Department of Commerce resources and ways the Department and ITA could provide assistance to businesses and the Export Plan team to help overcome some of these challenges.

Since the launch of President Obama’s National Export Initiative in 2010, the United States has seen strong export-driven economic growth and has broken export records four years in a row. Increasing U.S. exports remains a top priority for the Obama Administration, and the Commerce Department is ready to assist San Diego and other communities in making the most of their exporting potential.

Expanding access to export financing is one of the five priority objectives under NEI/NEXT, the next phase of the President’s National Export Initiative, a customer-focused initiative to ensure that more American businesses can fully capitalize on markets around the world.

Despite recent improvements in the economy, many U.S. businesses, especially SMEs and minority-owned firms, still face significant challenges in financing their export transactions. The Arlington seminar helped local SMEs learn ways to overcome such challenges by following NEI/NEXT’s three key trade finance strategies:

Engage and educate more commercial lenders and private-sector partners on U.S. government export financing and insurance programs.

Educate more U.S. businesses on how to utilize the government and commercial trade finance resources that can help turn their export opportunities into actual transactions.

Streamline services provided by U.S. government export financing and promotion agencies.

In addition to these finance strategies, participants also explored:

getting paid from export sales;

getting paid in foreign currencies;

taking advantage of export assistance resources and U.S. Government export financing programs;

identifying U.S. export opportunities in Latin America; and,

finding global business development resources for U.S. Hispanic and Other Minority-Owned Businesses.

With the new knowledge gained from Global Connect Arlington, participants are now more equipped to enter, grow and succeed in global markets!

Today, Secretary Penny Pritzker announced NEI/NEXT – a data-based, customer service-driven initiative to ensure that more American businesses can fully capitalize on markets that are opening up around the world. Through five core objectives, NEI/NEXT will build on Administration-wide achievements under the National Export Initiative (NEI), to help all businesses reach the 95 percent of consumers who live outside the United States.

Under the NEI, the United States has had four straight record-breaking years of exports – hitting an all-time high of $2.3 trillion dollars last year – up $700 billion from 2009. The NEI has been instrumental in strengthening high-level commercial advocacy on behalf of U.S. companies, increasing small business participation in trade events, partnering with regions to develop export plans, expanding strategic partnerships to promote exports, implementing our trade agreements, enforcing U.S. trade rights, and driving the most ambitious trade agenda in a generation.

In a new economic report released today by the Department of Commerce, data shows that nearly one-third of the country’s economic growth since mid-2009 has been driven by exports. Nearly 30,000 businesses have started exporting for the first time. And most importantly, since 2009, the number of jobs supported by exports has grown by 1.6 million to more than 11.3 million – the highest in 20 years.

Yet still, too many American firms remain focused on domestic markets. Less than 5 percent of U.S. companies export, and more than half of those exporters sell to only one market. To help bridge that gap, and look for new opportunities to help U.S. businesses export, the Department of Commerce, along with 20 federal agency partners last year began to take a fresh look at the NEI and develop strategies that would help make trade a central part of America’s economic DNA. The end product of that interagency review resulted in five key strategies to help more U.S. companies reach more markets. The five objectives of NEI/NEXT include:

Connecting more U.S. businesses to their NEXT global customer with tailored industry-specific information and assistance.

Making the NEXT international shipment easier and less expensive, through efforts to streamline U.S. government export-related services, reporting requirements and processes, and speeding American goods to more markets through domestic infrastructure improvements.

Expanding access to finance for U.S. businesses’ NEXT export transaction, helping more exporters obtain financing to meet international demand, and ensuring more companies know what products and services are available to reduce risk and export to new markets with confidence.

Promoting exports and foreign direct investment attraction as the NEXT economic development priority in communities and regions across the country by enhancing partnerships with local and state leaders and by coordinating with SelectUSA, the U.S. government-wide program housed within the Department of Commerce to facilitate foreign direct investment.

Creating, fostering and ensuring U.S. business’ NEXT global opportunity by helping developed and developing economies improve their business environments, by opening new markets, and by establishing conditions and addressing barriers to allow more American exporters to compete and win abroad.

Underlying this entire strategy will be an effort to support the creation of improved data to help companies make decisions, to help communities integrate exports into their economic development plans, and to help us – as a government – gather feedback and continuously improve our efforts.